The Revolution Will Be Served on a Paper Plate
Why is healthy food in LA so hard? It’s not actually, in the vast agricultural empire that is California, healthy fresh food is all around us. Why are there so many food deserts then? Why do we have such a problem with obesity here? The answer is in friction points. Friction points are defined as a resistance encountered when one body moves relative to another body with which it is in contact, but outside the realm of physics, friction points represent something far greater.
Friction points mean anything that makes getting something harder, like having to walk a mile to get some food, or healthy food just being too expensive to buy. Fresh food in much of Los Angeles is chalk full of friction points, from geographic problems such as the density of the city, to systemic problems such as the lack of public infrastructure or the red lining of neighborhoods and the practice’s continuing aftereffects combined with gentrification. It’s a problem that in many ways is the product of all of the other problems of Los Angeles, and because of that not much has been able to change. Areas are defined as food deserts when fresh food is not accessible in urban areas for miles. There are currently a lot of efforts to minimize these food deserts, with restaurants like Roy Choi’s Locol spearheading serving fresh food these communities, using food as a vehicle for social change. But one restaurant can only do so much, and the high price of rent has prompted the franchise to move into wealthier parts of Los Angeles, limiting access of healthy food to those who need it most. While their mission is true, the realities of a brick and mortar restaurant mean that selling healthy food as a solution can only help a portion of those who need it.
But what if that could change?
Two years ago LA changed its food vending laws, allowing for residential home kitchens to be legally defined as commissary kitchens. This has given a huge opportunity for food vendors in the community, many of whom serve authentic fresh food, to thrive in a space where their food can be legally sold. Now, someone could use their own kitchen to prepare food to sell, given it complied with safety regulations. Overnight, a market previously dominated by a few well-established restaurants or chains became very competitive. Food trucks and sidewalk vendors did not need to pay rent, and were allowed in most areas of the city, so everyone, even people in food deserts, suddenly had access to far more food options. With new competition, the food got better and prices dropped, helping the community. Decentralized food vendors such as Trap Kitchen LA, or The Foodminati became cultural sensations.
Change, however, is seldom easy. Vehement pushback from local restaurants almost brought the entire industry to a close, passing a law that did not allow for food trucks to park within a mile of a restaurant. While it was a major blow, the ball has already started rolling, and there is no stopping it.
Food deserts still remain. Change is slow, and without a hand to guide the type of food entering these spaces, it’s hard for healthy food vendors to make their mark. But what if we would change that? What if we could help healthy food vendors take decentralized kitchens to a whole new level.
Imagine this:
Customers order food via picture menus on Instagram simply by seeing it in their feed and clicking the “shop” icon on the post. Customers can choose one of a few pop-up locations where they can pick up their food. These pop-ups would be set up across town as a way to bring the bring the food to people, but sidestepping the pains and cost that last-mile delivery poses. One of these trucks could pick up food from a few closeby decentralized restaurants set up in a parking lot for an hour, and and people could pick up their food by showing their digital receipt. The restaurants would get the money made in the day off their orders, and people operating the trucks would take a commission. Since both the food and the purchase of the food would be made before hand, legally these distribution vehicles could set up wherever they want.
Food needs to be more than just healthy to succeed, it needs to be easy, agile, and a part of the community. Through empowering local healthy food vendors with the tools to directly sell to their customers via online sales, we can promote healthy eating, minimize food deserts, and empower the community all in the same stroke. The pandora’s box that is decentralized food has been opened, but we have a chance to guide it to change communities for the better from within.
